STX readies capital for Hynix stake purchase

Shipbuilding giant STX Group on Sunday said it has sold 250 billion won ($236 million) of overseas assets to secure the funds to purchase a 15 percent stake in Hynix Semiconductor against its bidding rival, SK Group.

STX Europe Holding, a wholly owned subsidiary of the STX Group, sold an almost 20 percent stake of its Singapore-based STX OSV Holdings to an investment fund to help pay for the $2.3 billion acquisition.

“We expect the sale of a stake in STX OSV to have positive impact on our bid,” a SKT official was quoted as saying.

The shipping magnate is attempting to gain an early edge on the largest sale of a technology company here in over 12 years as it seeks to diversify its shipping and logistics-centered business portfolio.

The company and SK Group, the parent of the nation’s biggest oil refiner and mobile carrier, on Friday submitted letters of interest in the first round of bidding for the world’s No.2 computer memory chipmaker. SK entered the race via SK Telecom.

The Korea Exchange Bank, leading nine other financial institutions as the major creditor of Hynix, said the two are the only bidders.

Analysts say while having a stake in Hynix would be an attractive asset to diversify business portfolios for both, SK Group would see little synergy from the purchase.

“The acquisition plan is not in line with what SK Telecom has presented for its future strategy,” said Choi Yoon-mi, an analyst at Mirae Asset. “It is a distracting development when it has to put resources into the stated goal of growing its content and mobile platform operations.”

STX Group has an advantage in financing the deal. It on Friday reiterated that it will team up with a Middle Eastern sovereign fund to fund the acquisition.

Hynix was bailed out by the creditor group in 2001. The creditor group has failed to offload their assets in Hynix three times in the past decade after bidders, including Hyundai Heavy Industries Co., ruled out their initial interests.
By Cynthia J. Kim (cynthiak@heraldcorp.com)